Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...--Goodreads

In the Before, everything was like it is now in the real
world. Vampires sparkled in movies,
instead of chowing down on human flesh in real life. But, now, monsters known as Ticks have taken
over a nation in less than six months.
Teenagers reside in Farms, where they are fattened like cattle to bleed
dry for the Ticks outside the fence.
Lily and her autistic twin, Mel, intend to escape before their 18th
birthday. When Carter, a familiar face
from Before, shows up and offers a way out, they take it. Now they just need to survive.

When I read what The
Farm was about, I was ready to dive right in. As much as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read
another vampire book, there was something about this one which made me want to
read it right away. It sounded so
similar to The Daybreakers, a film
made in 2009, about vampires taking over the world. In the movie, just like this book, the vampires
farm the humans for blood. As much as
the movie was just okay, the concept of farming humans and vampires taking over
the world seemed very promising. The Farm was different in the way that
it was in the perspective of one of the farm occupants. The
Daybreakers trailer is below.

Emily McKay created this world filled with vampire
lore. One of the most fantastic
storylines with vampires I have heard in a long time. She calls them Ticks (and Tocks), just the
title makes them sound remarkably unique.
Her writing blew me away, from beginning to end. I wanted to continuously jump ahead because I
almost couldn’t stand not knowing what was going to happen next.

Alternating point of views are sometimes not the best, if
written the wrong way they can easily be confusing. However, with The Farm, the narratives were written nicely and I didn’t get lost
at all. It was interesting to read about
and get in the mind of an autistic girl.
There are too few novels with main characters who have autism. Carter was the cliché hot boy of the group but
McKay wrote him in such a way that made him seem much more than that. He was compelling and I wanted to know more
about him. I enjoyed Lily’s narration
the most; she would doubt herself often which was a fantastic way to get the
reader to doubt what was happening as well.

The plot flowed at a good pace, not too fast and not slow at
all. However, it was the action packed
scenes which kept me reading for more.
There were a bit of twists in The
Farm but the most anticipated twist was predictable. There was a superpower talked up throughout
the entire book but one minute I would understand it and the next something
would throw me off. Something didn’t add
up with it. The ending upset me. It seemed too rushed and I felt McKay could
have slowed down in the plot. However, I
am anticipating the release of the second one because McKay left it off at such
an agonizing point.

The Farm was a
magnificent take on vampires. As much as
the vampire era is leaving for a while and dystopia has taken the world by
storm, make sure you read this one. The Farm is fresh, unique, and action
packed.

“Some days, you just want to let the bad guys win.”

-The Farm by Emily McKay, p. 1

Rated R for blood and gore, action sequences, and violence.

Cover: 4

Characters: 4

Writing Style: 4

Plot: 4

Ending: 4

Overall:

Share This Story

You Might Also Like

0
comments

I'm Jeanna!

I love books, coffee, cute planners, blogging, and everything in between. I don't want you to miss out on the fantastic books out there, which is why I talk about books and write reviews. My reviews may include lame jokes and a side of sass, that make you feel like you are sitting down with an good, old friend for coffee. So grab a seat and let's get chatting.